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Harris finally broke their silence.
“What happens next, Doc?” he said. “We got nothing back from the FBI on her fingerprints. No records, nothing.”
“The examiners will make the usual calls, trying to see if she’s a runaway or similar. But unless someone comes forward, I guess she’ll just go on the list with the other two.”
He nodded at a clipboard hanging on a hook by the door.
Dr. Mitchell explained: “We went ahead and wrote up the two Hispanic males from the motel explosion.”
The ME’s office had a Forensic Investigative Unit. Among other tasks, the FIU worked to identify human remains. Then, if successful, it contacted the next of kin.
Most unidentified bodies brought to the ME were identified within a matter of hours. This was accomplished by matching fingerprints to FBI database records. Folks who died violent deaths of a suspicious nature tended to have an arrest record, which of course included a full set of fingerprints. For those who didn’t have a rap sheet the size of a phone book, the identification sometimes was made using dental records or DNA matching, both of which tended to be more difficult than matches by prints. But, like the prints, these matches were indisputable.
There were those victims, however, who just could not be so matched. Deco
mposition and charring of the body topped the list of reasons why no records could be found on a John or Jane Doe. And so the ME’s office published a list of these non-name victims available for public review.
Payne walked over and collected the clipboard. He read the top sheet:
City of Philadelphia
Medical Examiner’s Office
Forensic Investigative Unit
Howard H. Mitchell, MD
Medical Examiner To date, using current methods, the Forensic Investigative Unit of the Medical Examiner?s Office has been unable to identify the following persons. It is hoped that this listing of unknown individuals and their description being made public will aid in our identifying them.
Anyone having any information that may help the FIU identify these person or persons is asked to contract the Forensic Services Manager at 215-685-7445.
CASE NUMBER: 09-4087
RACE: Hispanic
GENDER: Male
ESTIMATE AGE: 25–30 years ESTIMATE HEIGHT AND WEIGHT: 5?4”, 140 pounds DATE BODY FOUND: 09 September LOCATION OF BODY: Philly Inn, 7004 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia DISTINGUISHING MARKS: tattoo of a tear drop at corner of right eye; tear drop incomplete, only bottom inked in PERSONAL EFFECTS: gold earring stud right lobe.
CLOTHING: LUCKY brand jeans size 34x32, [unknown] brand T-shirt size medium, NIKE athletic shoes size 10 BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Charred remains. The decedent was killed in the explosion of a meth lab. Clothing mostly burned. The decedent can be identified by dental record or DNA.
CASE NUMBER: 09-4087
RACE: Hispanic
GENDER: Male
ESTIMATE AGE: 20–25 years ESTIMATE HEIGHT AND WEIGHT: 5?0”, 100 pounds DATE BODY FOUND: 09 September LOCATION OF BODY: Philly Inn, 7004 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia DISTINGUISHING MARKS: None PERSONAL EFFECTS: Timex wristwatch CLOTHING: Notorious BIG brand jeans size 34x32, [unknown] brand T-shirt size medium, NIKE athletic shoes size 10 BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Charred remains. The decedent was in an explosion of a meth lab but may have died from a cut to the throat. Clothing almost completely burned. Timex wristwatch melted to wrist. The decedent can be identified by dental record or DNA.
Matt Payne snorted as he read.
He handed the clipboard to Tony Harris.
Payne said, “Get a load of the brand names of their jeans. ‘Notorious BIG’ and, irony of ironies, ‘Lucky.’”
Harris took the sheet and looked. He grunted as he handed the board to Byrth.
“Jim, any idea what’s with the older, bigger guy’s tattoo?” Payne then said.
